Planting trees has become a rage among people. This is great as forests are a great wealth to the well being of our environment. Trees control temperature, help in purifying air, play an important role in holding the wealth of the soil, contribute to increasing the water bed of the soil and so on. But does planting trees alone make us an environment friendly person? There are few other small but significant practices that we follow which has contributed to the deterioration of the environment all through the years.
The most important environmental issue is one that is rarely mentioned, and that is the lack of a conservation ethic in our culture. – Gaylord Nelson, former U.S. Senator
Uncontrolled use of Vehicles:
On one side we speak about preserving the environment and on the other side people go about buying cars and other vehicles without any control. It is not a new information that air pollution is one big factor for global warming. The exhaust from vehicles is increasing at an alarming rate. In a larger picture the pollution caused by vehicles may seem very small, but over a period of time this keeps increasing and blot starts looking bigger than we thought. As of 2009 India was the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide after China and the United States. And 9% of India's emission were from transportation. 9% may seem small but this can be reduced by taking some serious measures. Controlling number of vehicles per family, making car pooling compulsory (On Chennai roads 80% of the cars that ply between 8 AM to 11 Am has a single passenger - this is my data) , phasing out old vehicles, ban inferior technologies and diesel, impose heavy duties/taxes to curb huge number of vehicles, improving public transport. These measures can control this type of pollution.
Unscrupulous construction:
This is indeed a direct contributor to environmental destruction. People have this thought that only big dams or factories have adverse effect on the environment, which is not correct. Though these biggies contribute a largely, we individuals are contributing our bit by buying/building houses on reclaimed farm lands, water bodies, environmentally important marshlands etc. And how many of us own more than one house? This is a question we need to ask ourselves. A house is made of sand which is mined from river beds, bricks that are made from soil, cement whose production and consumption is a bane to this earth, steel which is again mined and which in turn has contributed to huge destruction of forests and killing its inhabitants, Wood - yes this directly points to the trees cut. So as the number of houses to build or buy increases, your contribution to environmental destruction directly shoots up. Oh, how much is 2 or 3 of my houses going to destroy nature? Let me tell you , that destruction is not calculated on a one to one basis, it is always exponential.
Consumerism:
On one side we speak about preserving the environment and on the other side people go about buying cars and other vehicles without any control. It is not a new information that air pollution is one big factor for global warming. The exhaust from vehicles is increasing at an alarming rate. In a larger picture the pollution caused by vehicles may seem very small, but over a period of time this keeps increasing and blot starts looking bigger than we thought. As of 2009 India was the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide after China and the United States. And 9% of India's emission were from transportation. 9% may seem small but this can be reduced by taking some serious measures. Controlling number of vehicles per family, making car pooling compulsory (On Chennai roads 80% of the cars that ply between 8 AM to 11 Am has a single passenger - this is my data) , phasing out old vehicles, ban inferior technologies and diesel, impose heavy duties/taxes to curb huge number of vehicles, improving public transport. These measures can control this type of pollution.
Unscrupulous construction:
This is indeed a direct contributor to environmental destruction. People have this thought that only big dams or factories have adverse effect on the environment, which is not correct. Though these biggies contribute a largely, we individuals are contributing our bit by buying/building houses on reclaimed farm lands, water bodies, environmentally important marshlands etc. And how many of us own more than one house? This is a question we need to ask ourselves. A house is made of sand which is mined from river beds, bricks that are made from soil, cement whose production and consumption is a bane to this earth, steel which is again mined and which in turn has contributed to huge destruction of forests and killing its inhabitants, Wood - yes this directly points to the trees cut. So as the number of houses to build or buy increases, your contribution to environmental destruction directly shoots up. Oh, how much is 2 or 3 of my houses going to destroy nature? Let me tell you , that destruction is not calculated on a one to one basis, it is always exponential.
Consumerism:
We have become a consumerist crowd. We like to indulge in all the latest technologies,pamper ourselves with the most expensive items one can buy. The consumerist culture has made us buy things that we don't want or never use and also to buy more than we want. Mobile phones, Television, Refrigerator, Laptops, Air coolers - all these we buy and keep changing models every year to satiate our indulging self. But what happens to all the items that we discard? Where do all these items go? Do we have any idea the kind of damage that e-waste is doing to the earth. I would request each one to read a little about it. Then comes eating food - oh yes we love to order food more than we need and we waste it just because we can afford it, no matter it is meat or vegetables - we don't know or don't care for the fact the food we eat also contributes to deforestation and greater emissions. It is all linked. Forests across the world are being destroyed so that they can be converted into grazing land for animals so that we can eat more meat which in turn is ultimately going to make us live a unhealthy life. How sad that we can't see this. Deforestation kills the natural habitat of wild animals and will lead to many more extinct species on this earth.
Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed. – Mahatma Gandhi, Father of India.
These are small things that as individuals we can be aware of in our life. Does this mean we should live a pathetic life without any facilities or advancements ? No, it just means that we need to live a simpler life. Buy/Use only what we really need. Why is it so difficult? What is needed is awareness of what we are doing and little bit of determination.
The theme of this year's World Environment Day is "Zero tolerance for the illegal Wildlife trade". For many of us this earth and its resources were created for the usage of mankind. We don't consider animals and plants a part of it. But when we trade these flora and fauna for money and better sophistication we forget that they are not dependent on us, we are dependent on them. If animals go extinct it will disturb the food chain and the impacts can be terrible for the man kind. This is as simple as i can say it. If Bees go extinct, we will all start scrambling for food. And as per studies bees are disappearing faster than we can imagine. We should start taking environment much seriously. It is the duty of each homo sapien to leave this earth a better place for the future generation.
Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed. – Mahatma Gandhi, Father of India.
These are small things that as individuals we can be aware of in our life. Does this mean we should live a pathetic life without any facilities or advancements ? No, it just means that we need to live a simpler life. Buy/Use only what we really need. Why is it so difficult? What is needed is awareness of what we are doing and little bit of determination.
The theme of this year's World Environment Day is "Zero tolerance for the illegal Wildlife trade". For many of us this earth and its resources were created for the usage of mankind. We don't consider animals and plants a part of it. But when we trade these flora and fauna for money and better sophistication we forget that they are not dependent on us, we are dependent on them. If animals go extinct it will disturb the food chain and the impacts can be terrible for the man kind. This is as simple as i can say it. If Bees go extinct, we will all start scrambling for food. And as per studies bees are disappearing faster than we can imagine. We should start taking environment much seriously. It is the duty of each homo sapien to leave this earth a better place for the future generation.
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